The plan (there’s always a plan) was to do a no-nonsense ride, getting up the hill as quickly as possible, keeping regroup & chat time to an absolute minimum, so I could get back in time to take a quick shower and make it to the shop by 10am for a business conference call for the NBDA (National Bicycle Dealer Association).Things were initially looking good; I was feeling OK up the hill, even getting ahead of Kevin and maybe Karen & JR for a bit. But it took a bit of time to collect everyone at the top of Kings, and by the time we got to Sky Londa it was clear we were too far behind schedule to make the phone call. Darn. I had to send Kevin on with Eric and JR for the “fun” part of the ride (West Old LaHonda) while I headed back down into Woodside on my own.

But what about the snake? Kevin spotted it on the way to the start of the ride, near the top of Jefferson, coiled up at the side of the road, unfortunately already having been run over by a car. I stopped and took a picture on the way back. Poor guy. Rather strange to see a snake out on a cold morning.